Gianna Buzzetta, Oceanside, California chef killed in freak accident when boulder falls on top of her during dream hike with soon to be fiance, Connor Quinton at Makaleha Falls waterfall in Kauai, Hawaii. Victim was a rising culinary star at Jeune et Jolie, Michelin restaurant in Carlsbad, CA.
Define tragedy? A rising chef at a Michelin-star restaurant died in a freak accident when she was struck by a falling boulder during a ‘dream hike’ in Hawaii with her boyfriend.
Gianna Buzzetta, 26, was hit by the falling debris on March 23 while trekking the Makaleha Falls waterfall in Kauai with boyfriend, Connor Quinton, who was described as her ‘soon-to-be’ fiancee.
Rising culinary star killed on ‘the best day of her life’
‘They heard a really loud noise. [Quinton] looked up, but couldn’t figure out where the noise was coming from. Within a second, it happened,’ her dad, Sal Buzzetta, told 10News.
‘The rock dislodged from quite a ways up … then it landed on her.’
Her boyfriend managed to pull Gianna to safety but had to run three miles to get help because he couldn’t get cellphone service, the family said.
The chef was eventually airlifted to a hospital, before she was transferred to another facility, where she was declared dead the following day. The rising chef’s parents managed to make it to the hospital before she passed.
The couple had gone to the waterfall because it was Buzzetta’s life-long dream, according to her family.
‘She had told her boyfriend, Connor, that day, he had fulfilled her dreams and it was the best day of her life,’ said mom, Caty told the 10News.
Buzzetta was a ‘precious daughter, sister, aunt, niece, cousin, grand-daughter, girlfriend/soon-to-be fianće, friend, Christian, and gifted executive pastry chef,’ according to an online fundraiser, which did not say if her boyfriend had planned to propose on the trip.
Rising Michelin star chef remembered
Buzzetta a rising star in the culinary world worked as an executive pastry chef at Jeune et Jolie restaurant in Carlsbad where she’d helped them win Michelin stars for three years running.
‘She was a huge part of the team. Super creative, super talented, incredibly hardworking,’ her boss, John Resnick, told Fox5 San Diego.
‘Humble, confident — I mean all these things that we want to see in the people we work with. So from that professional talent standpoint, she was incredible… Our whole team loved working alongside her.’
Jeune et Jolie will be donating all its proceeds from April 7 to help cover Gianna’s medical bills.
Gianna’s family has also started a donations page to cover the medical costs.
The page has received more than $43,000 of its $225,000 goal.
‘Gianna’s passion for life was evident in her love of family, friends, colleagues and those in need,’ the donation page reads.
‘She enjoyed volunteering at animal rescue shelters and desired happiness for others above herself. Recognizing, listening and assisting them to get help was important. Her quiet and often “spicy” resilience, determination, tenacity, intuitive insight and gentleness left a lasting impression on everyone she met. Her crazy sense of humor lit up a room of laughter that was infectious.’
